Numero sign

),[1][2] is a typographic abbreviation of the word number(s) indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles.

[4] This article describes other typographical abbreviations for "number" in different languages, in addition to the numero sign proper.

[5] In practice, the "o" is often replaced by the degree symbol (°), which is visually similar to the superscript "o" and is easily accessible on an AZERTY keyboard.

The sign is usually replaced with the abbreviations "n." or "nº", the latter using a masculine ordinal indicator, rather than a superscript "O".

The numero sign is very widely used in Russia and other post-Soviet states in many official and casual contexts.

The № sign is sometimes used in Russian medical prescriptions (which according to the law must be written in Latin language[9]) as an abbreviation for the Latin word numero to indicate the number of prescribed dosages (for example, tablets or capsules), and on the price tags in drugstores and pharmacy websites to indicate number of unit doses in drug packages, although the standard abbreviation for use in prescriptions is the Latin N. The numero sign is not typically used in Iberian Spanish, and it is not present on standard keyboard layouts.

According to the Real Academia Española[10] and the Fundéu BBVA,[11] the word número (number) is abbreviated per the Spanish typographic convention of letras voladas ("flying letters").

The numero sign, either as a one-character symbol № or composed of the letter N plus superscript "o" (sometimes underlined or substituted by the ordinal indicator, º), is common in Latin America, where the interpolated period is sometimes not used in abbreviations.

Lithuanian uses this spelling as well, and it is usually capitalised in bureaucratic contexts, especially with the meaning "reference number" (such as sutarties Nr., "contract No.")

It is commonly lowercase in other languages, such as Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Estonian and Swedish.